Bangor City Council may implement a new climate rebate program that would help households save money on their energy bills by adding heat pumps, solar power and weatherization features to homes.
That could provide needed assistance as Mainers’ concerns around energy costs are more intense than ever going into the winter. Heating oil prices in the state are 80% higher than last year and hit a record $6.02 per gallon two weeks ago as the Iran War rages on.
The proposed climate rebate program would be part of the Penobscot Climate Action Plan, a regional plan approved by Bangor and ten other communities two years ago with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving resilience to the effects of climate change.
It would do so by allocating $50,000 in climate action plan funds for rebates. Households could apply to receive roughly $2,000, Planning Officer Anja Collette reported at a Monday night meeting of the Bangor council’s business and economic development committee.
Helping those residents retrofit their homes would help reduce emissions and “also has a very high potential to help residents be more resilient to power outages and things like that, and also high fuel costs,” Collette said.
Heat pumps would be most helpful for households using heating oil, and solar power would be most helpful to those using electric heating, according to a memo from the city’s planning division. Weatherization would help save costs for all households.
The city has access to about $200,000 in climate action plan funds through the federal government, Collette said in response to a question from Councilor Wayne Mallar.
If approved, the climate rebates would build on existing assistance programs offered through the quasi-state agency Efficiency Maine and the city’s community development block grant program by providing “gap financing” for costs not covered by those other programs, according to the memo.
The proposal suggests offering a tiered rebate system based on income that would give higher rebates to lower income residents.
City councilors seemed supportive of the proposal. City staff plan to determine more details of the proposed program in the next month.
The city might also consider using some of the funding to help residents buy plug-in solar panels, which could also help renters, Collette told the committee.